“It’s just so hard to trust God with my future when I have no idea what’s going to happen,” she said in a discouraged tone. “I mean . . . I want to trust God, but it’s just really hard for me. What if I never get married?” I listened as my friend shared her heart. She was single in her late twenties and struggling to trust God with her love life. She wondered if marriage would ever become her reality. Trusting God with our future can be one of the hardest things to do. There’s so much uncertainty in the “what if” questions. “What if I never get married?” “What if my best friend moves away?” “What if I get in a bad car accident?” “What if God calls me to do something I don’t want to do?” “What if . . .?” “What if . . .?” “What if . . .?”
Worrying about the “what if’s” the future holds can rob us of peace and joy.
Worrying about the “what if’s” the future holds can rob us of peace and joy. I know this from firsthand experience. I have several “what if’s” in my life right now. Life is full of unknowns, and that will never change. But instead of fretting and worrying over my future, God has given me wisdom to understand some amazing promises that have given me the confidence to trust God completely.
Encouragement from an Unlikely Source
My encouragement to trust God fully with my future came from an unlikely place in the Bible and from an unlikely man. While reading the book of Genesis, I came across a familiar story of a man who was facing a lot of “what if” questions. And you know what? He was really struggling to trust God with his future. From a human standpoint, he had some pretty good reasons to worry, too. For starters, God told this man, Abraham, to pack up his stuff and move away from his family and friends to a completely foreign land at the age of seventy-five. The crazy thing is, Abraham seemed to do a pretty good job at trusting God at this point. The Bible says, “So Abram went, as the Lord had told him” (Gen. 12:4). Abraham was probably excited about God’s amazing promise to Him: “I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great” (12:2). Not bad! Fast forward a little while on the timeline of Abraham’s life and we discover Abraham is starting to struggle with trusting God’s plan. He is starting to ask some “what if” questions about his future. He’s getting older, and his wife is getting to the point where having children seems physically impossible. In Genesis 15, Abraham questions God by reminding Him that he is still childless. You can read the text here. But here’s the Bethany translation: “Ummmm . . . hello, God? Did you forget about me? I kinda need a son if I’m going to have all those descendants you mentioned. What if You’ve changed Your mind?” Scripture shows us that Abraham, the great man of faith through whom God planned to build a nation, worried about his future. Abraham and his wife, Sarah, fail to trust God’s promises, and they take matters into their own hands. You likely know the story—Ishmael, lots of drama, no happy ending here. Fast forward twenty-four years after God’s initial contact with Abraham, and guess what? Abraham still doesn’t have a son! He’s ninety-nine years old now and really starting to worry. God sees the worry in Abraham’s heart and reminds him that the amazing promise still stands.
“I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make you into nations, and kings shall come from you” (Gen. 17:6).
Abraham couldn’t see the big picture. He couldn’t see down the road of his life. He couldn’t imagine that nations (plural) and kings (plural) would come from him! He struggled with trust just like you and me. He had no idea how his future would pan out. But God did. What Abraham forgot, and what we often forget, is that God sees the bigger picture. God holds the bigger plan in His hand. God knew that nations and kings would come from Abraham. Abraham just needed to trust God and trust His promise.
The Bottom Line
Ultimately, Abraham’s worries and fears were in vain. When he doubted God’s faithfulness, he lost the strength to trust. This story from Genesis is such an amazing reminder of why we should trust God with our future. When life seems confusing, when circumstances seem impossible, when the future seems uncertain, God is there. God is in control. God sees the bigger picture. He holds the bigger plan. The bottom line is this: God can be trusted.
The bottom line is this: God can be trusted.
Regardless of how “uncertain” our futures may seem, God is faithful. We have to make the choice on whether or not we’re going to trust Him. We all have “Abraham moments” in our lives. We all lose sight of God’s faithfulness at times. However, let’s learn from Abraham’s life and not stay there. Let’s remind ourselves of the bigger picture, and choose to focus on how faithful God was to Abraham (and how truly faithful He has been to us). Let’s remember that God can be trusted with our future, no matter what we’re facing.
One Incredible Promise
God makes an incredible promise in Proverbs 3:5–6: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.” God promises that He will “make straight your paths” if you trust in Him and do not lean on your own understanding. All of our worries can be put to rest as we believe God’s promise and trust that He will make our paths straight. He is faithful, and we can trust Him with our futures! What about you?
- How are you currently struggling to trust God with your future?
- How does the promise found in Proverbs 3:5–6 bring you peace?